In Delirium, beginning March 31 at the Sanford Meisner Theater, is the Vortex Theater Company's new adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s iconic novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther."

Gisela Cardenas, a Peruvian native who directed the Vortex's production of Aeschylus' Agammemon last fall, will stage the work. Goethe's original novel was first published in Germany in 1774, when the author was a mere 24 years old. In Delirium adapts the story of a troubled young Werther, who searches for fulfillment in art and women to no avail, eventually taking his own life. The novel, told primarily through letters, made Goethe a literary star and inspired a slavish following among young men who began to dress like the character Werther and even copied his method of suicide. The deaths of hundreds of men led to the novel being banned in several countries.

Joshua Randall, the current producing artistic director of the Vortex Theater Company, will portray Werther. The set design will be by Jian Jung; costume design by Oana Botez-Ban; lighting design by Lucrecia Briceno; and sound design by John Ivy.